Tips for a Healthier Halloween

Halloween is upon us and with it, the full holiday season. That means we are all about to be bombarded with an enormous amount of unhealthy temptations. Not to worry, I have your back this holiday season. Not only is Fixate loaded up with healthy, fix approved holiday meal, drink, and dessert recipes, but I’ll also be sharing some of my favorite “healthier” holiday alternatives and tips for surviving the season without the weight gain and the drain of the carb/sugar crash.

With just 9 days until Halloween and even less until the Halloween parties start, let’s talk about a few things you can do to plan ahead to have a healthier Halloween for yourself and your kids.

My son and I love to go trick-or-treating, but I always have a plan in mind for how we will fully enjoy the experience without overindulging. We all know how awful we can feel (or our kids can feel) when we eat too much junk. Yeah, maybe it tastes good going down, but once you reach that tipping point you’ll have to suffer through the inevitable stomach ache, the crazy sugar high, and the crash. If you really over do it, you might even experience a sugar hangover the next day feeling tired, lethargic and suffering from a headache and upset stomach. The other significant downside to overindulging in sweet treats on Halloween and through Halloween week is that you end up increasing your cravings. Your body starts to get used to the sugar as an energy source and your brain starts to tell you need more. So the temptation to continue indulging will last even after the costumes are put away and the Christmas decorations are being pulled out. So let’s practice moderation and set ourselves up for success.

Here are 5 tips to help you have a healthy and happy Halloween:

Decide before you go how many pieces of candy you are going to let your kids have while trick-or-treating and after. Choose a number for yourself as well. Remember your goals. Remember your hard work to get healthy. Remember how you want to feel and how too much sugar can make you feel. And remember that the more sugar you consume the harder it will be stop craving it! Choose wisely 🙂

Eat a super healthy dinner that night before you go out. Our go to on Halloween night dinner is Fixate chicken chili with lots of veggies and a big salad. It’s filling, satisfying and loaded with nutrients so I know we’re putting all the good things in and only leaving a little room for the junk.

Drink lots of water throughout the day. Staying hydrated will help you manage your cravings and it will also help your body process and digest what you eat that day more easily.

Don’t keep bags of Halloween candy in the house leading up to the holiday. You’re more likely to start picking at it and that will exponentially increase your sugar intake throughout the week. Don’t keep bags of candy in the house after Halloween either. Let your kids choose a few pieces of their favorite candy and put them aside to slowly handout in their lunch, after practice or school, etc. But don’t keep the whole loot. Give it away or throw it away. I know that feels wasteful, but it does a lot less damage in the trash than in your body.

Choose healthier candy options. I let my son eat a few pieces of his favorites from his trick-or-treating collection on Halloween night and then he trades me his trick-or-treating loot for a small stock of HunnyBon candy. He absolutely loves their candies and chocolates and I can slowly hand them out to him as after school treats or pack them in his lunch box without any complaints. He still feels like he “stocked” up on candy, but I can feel good knowing he’s eating something that is so much healthier for him than the processed bags of candy that are loaded with corn syrup, food dyes and chemical sweeteners. Check out more about HunnyBon below.

HunnyBon is my go to resource for all of my holiday, birthday and special occasion candy treats. The founder is a fellow IIN (Institute for Integrative Nutrition) graduate and health enthusiast and she’s created some of your familiar favorites without all the garbage! Her candies, chocolates, desserts and confections are all organic and vegan. They’re made with clean ingredients, healthier sweeteners and include superfood boosts. These treats are completely free from refined sugars, corn syrup and HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), GMOs, dairy, animal products, trans fats, artificial colors, flavors and additives.

How amazing is that? It’s a treat you can truly feel good about giving to your kids (or indulging in yourself). Candies, chocolates, desserts and confections created by a nutritional counselor and delivered straight to your door.